My first viewing of Bandersnatch was the best experience for me. I kept feeling more and more tense as I had no idea what was coming next and what horrible choices I was unwittingly making. Perhaps I was lucky that none of my choices resulted in a premature ending of the film, which would have made me repeat a previous choice in order to continue. I managed to lucky play through the story as a whole, without breaking the flow of the narrative.

But as I watched/played the film again, this time making different choices, I ended up being sent to the credits a little too often. This did seem to tie into a secret meaning of the film, that we only have the illusion of free will. At the same time, it was somewhat annoying to be forced to keep starting over.

I’ve seen many game creators try to mess with the player and tell them they only have the illusion of free will. However, this never is too strong a message, because I am always free to stop playing. Just as you are free to stop reading.

So do we really have free will, or is it just an illusion?